Rudy Giuliani (born Rudolph William Giuliani, May 28, 1944 in Brooklyn, New York) is best known for serving two terms as Mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001, and gained worldwide fame and became a hero to New Yorkers and the nation for his decisive action in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. He was Time Magazine's "Person of the Year" and became known as "America's Mayor." As Republican mayor of New York City he cracked down on "quality of life" crimes, including cleaning up Times Square, taking the homeless off the streets and replacing welfare offices into job centers. By the end of his two terms the unemployment rate was cut in half, the crime rate dropped 57% and the murder rate dropped 65%.[1] Giuliani gained the reputation of one of the greatest mayors in history.

Previous to serving as Mayor, Giuliani became a high-ranking member of the Department of Justice in the Reaganadministration in 1981. In 1983 he become U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. He vigorously put drug dealers and white collar criminals in jail. In 2007-2008 Rudy Giuliani emerged as an early front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination, but faltered late in 2007 and did poorly in the primaries.

Rudy Giuliani has declined to seek the governorship of New York and United States Senate in 2010.

Early life

Rudolph W. Giuliani was born to a working class Italian-American family in Brooklyn, New York. As the grandson of immigrants, Giuliani developed a strong work ethic and a deep respect for America's ideal of equal opportunity. He attended Catholic parochial schools including Brooklyn's Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School (Class of '61). He graduated from Manhattan College (Class of '65) and New York University Law School, magna cum laude in 1968.[2]

Personal life

Giuliani has been married three times. First to his second cousin Regina Peruggi, on October 26, 1968. In 1976 the couple split. They did not have any children. His second marriage was to Donna Hanover. Giuliani filed for legal separation from Peruggi on August 12, 1982. Giuliani and Hanover started living together later that year in Washington, D.C. A Roman Catholic Church annulment (of the Giuliani-Peruggi marriage) was granted at the end of 1983[3] because, according to Giuliani, they did not have the necessary Church dispensation.

Giuliani and Hanover then married on April 15, 1984. They had two children, Andrew and Caroline. In May 2000, Giuliani admitted to an extramarital relationship with Judith Nathan and called a press conference to reveal he intended to separate from Hanover. Hanover did not know that Giuliani intended to make such an announcement and was reportedly caught somewhat by surprise [4]
Giuliani then married Judith Nathan in 2003, his third marriage.

Legal career

After law school Giuliani clerked for Judge Lloyd MacMahon, United States District Judge for the Southern District of New York. In 1970, he joined the office of the U.S. Attorney. At age 29, he was named Chief of the Narcotics Unit and rose to serve as executive U.S. Attorney. In 1975, Giuliani was recruited by the Gerald R. Ford administration and became Associate Deputy Attorney General and chief of staff to the Deputy Attorney General. From 1977 to 1981 he practiced law at Patterson, Belknap, Webb and Tyler in New York City.[5]

The Reagan Administration brought Giuliani to Washington in 1981 as Associate Attorney General, the third highest position in the U.S. Department of Justice. He supervised all of the US Attorney Offices' Federal law enforcement agencies, the Bureau of Corrections, the Drug Enforcement Agency, and the US Marshals. In 1983, Reagan appointed Giuliani to be US Attorney for the Southern District of New York. He gained national prominence over successfully prosecuting high-profile cases.

He frequently used the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) to bring down organized criminals. From 1985-1986 Giuliani indicted eleven organized crime figures under the RICO act that also included charges of extortion, labor racketeering, and murder for hire. Time Magazine called this "Case of Cases" possibly "the most significant assault on the infrastructure of organized crime since the high command of the Chicago Mafia was swept away in 1943." [6]

Wall Street arbitrageur Ivan Boesky earned an estimated $200 million by betting on corporate takeovers. He was violating insider trading laws by making investments based on tips received from corporate insiders. Giuliani prosecuted Boesky and was sentenced to 3.5 years in prison and fined $100 million. The case was all the more significant, in that insider trading laws were rarely enforced at the time. Boesky informed several of his insiders, including junk bond trader Michael Milken. In 1989 Giuliani charged Milken under the RICO act with 98 counts of racketeering and fraud. He paid a total of $900 million in fines and settlements.

After six years as serving as a prosecutor Giuliani's record stood at 4,125 convictions with only 25 reversals.[7]

Mayoral Campaigns

In 1989, Giuliani ran for mayor of New York City on the Liberal and Republican tickets, losing to Democrat David Dinkins in the closet election in New York City history. In a rematch in 1993, Dinkins popularity faltered after he alienated the New York City Police Department for his support for an all civilian panel to oversee brutality complaints.[8] This led to massive protests against the Mayor. As crime rates rose, Dinkins gained the image of being weak and incumbent. On the contrary, Giuliani stressed quality of life, crime, business and education. He was elected the 107th Mayor, becoming the first Republican mayor of New York City in over 25 years. In 1997 he was easily re-elected by a wide margin, carrying four out of five boroughs.

Mayoralty of New York City

Giuliani brought a new, conservative approach to the ills of New York City. He argued that crime's root cause was not poverty but poor law enforcement; poverty was not alleviated by social welfare programs but perpetuated by them; and the public schools needed not more money but fewer bureaucrats. He made major efforts to reform city affairs, opposed at every step by labor unions, the board of education, social-service agencies, the school bureaucracy, and identity-group politicians. He became a media favorite based on his conservative crime fighting and his liberal positions on abortion, gun control and homosexuality. As mayor he would hold almost daily press conferences, and his personal indiscretions regarding his married life became favorite topics for the media. He also hosted his own radio show once a week entitled Live From City Hall With Rudy Giuliani. The show would discuss current city events, and became known by critics as "Rudy's bullying pulpit", in that when open calls were taken, Giuliani would not be hesitant to be confrontational with callers who disagreed with him.

Crime

As Mayor, Rudy Giuliani sought to return accountability to city government and improve the quality of life for all New Yorkers. Under his leadership, overall crime fell 57%, murder was reduced by 65%, shootings dropped 72% and New York was recognized by the F.B.I. as the safest large city in America for five consecutive years. Although national crime rates fell in the 1990s, New York exceeded all other cities. Among Giuliani's most notable accomplishments during his mayoralty was his successful assault on pornography businesses in Times Square. The neighborhood had long been a mecca for "sexually oriented businesses", but through a prolonged campaign which included maintaining an alliance of local businesses, conservative and feminist groups and the general public, Giuliani managed to clean it up and replaced it with legitimate theaters, restaurants and shops, making it a world class tourist attraction for families.

Mayor Giuliani, along with New York City Police Department Commissioner Bill Bratton, adopted an anti-crime approach known as the "Broken Window Theory." Which is the notion that if by cracking down on minor crimes such as graffiti or litter, it will lead to stopping more serious crimes before they occur. In 1994 Giuliani and Bratton launched the initiative CompStat, which looked at crime geographically and statistically monitored criminal activity on specific street corners. The program proved to be successful in reducing crime and is still used today. In 1996 it won the Innovations in Government Award from the Kennedy School of Government at HarvardUniversity. However, Bratton resigned in 1996 after having personal disagreements with Giuliani.

Economic Record

Under Mayor Giuliani unemployment dropped from 10.4% to 5.0%, personal income rose 50%, a $2.3 billion budget deficit was turned into a $2.9 billion surplus by FY 2001, there was a 17% reduction in New Yorkers tax burden, and over 640,000 people were cut from welfare rolls. Club for Growth, a conservative political action committee which supports lower taxes, school choice and free trade has said that, "it is impossible to ignore Giuliani's overall commitment to a pro-growth philosophy and his executive talent for implementing that philosophy in a hostile political environment."

During his 1993 Mayoral campaign Giuliani proposed putting a 90-day limit to stay at homeless shelters, "It sounds generous and compassionate, but it isn't. There's an understanding of human psychology that's missing. The less you expect of people, the less you get. The more you expect, the more you get." [9]

On education Giuliani was a strong advocate of school choice. He created the Charter School Initiative in 1999, which led to creation of 17 new schools by the Fall 2001. His administration offered grants of up to $250,000 to new Charter Schools. In 1999 he placed $12 million into the budget for parochial school vouchers. Wanting to reduce school bureaucracy, Giuliani frequently battled liberals at the New York City Board of Education. In April 1999, Giuliani said he would like to "blow up" the board of Education.[10]

Immigration

Giuliani has received criticisms from conservatives for turning New York City into a Sanctuary city. In 1996, he said that "We're never, ever going to be able to totally control immigration in a country that is as large as ours." He went on to say, "If you were to totally control immigration into the United States, you might very well destroy the economy of the United States, because you'd have to inspect everything and everyone in every way possible." As Mayor, Giuliani said that, "There isn’t a mayor or public official in this country that is more strongly pro immigrant than I am. Including disagreeing with President Clinton when he signed an anti immigrant legislation about 2 or 3 years ago."

Controversies

In October 1995, Mayor Giuliani ejected terroristYasser Arafat, leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) from a concert at New York's Lincoln Center. Giuliani also refused to invite Cuban dictator Fidel Castro to a gala dinner, "It's my party and I'll invite who I want."

Rudy Giuliani's personal life became an issue under his mayoralty, he had a romantic relationship with his City Hall communications director Cristyne Lategano.[11] The story broke in Vanity Fair magazine in 1997, and was believed to have lead to the divorce of Giuliani's wife of 16 years Donna Hanover. Giuliani told reporters at a press conference "My private life is my own private life. If you like me fine, and if you don't, I don't really give a damn." [12]

In 1999 Giuliani, a Catholic, threatened to cut off city funding for the Brooklyn Museum if the museum did not remove a painting of Virgin Mary next to elephant dung and female genitalia pictures. Although Christians supported the mayor's actions, the museum and the American Civil Liberties Union successfully filed a lawsuit against Giuliani that his actions violated the First Amendment. Mayor Giuliani was forced to restore funding.

2000 Senatorial Campaign

In 2000 a diagnosis of prostate cancer had led Rudy Giuliani to drop out of a run for the Senate seat eventually won by Democrat Hillary Clinton.

September 11 Terrorist Attacks

On Sept. 10, 2001, Giuliani was known as a crime fighter; his approval rating hovered around 50 percent. He was a lame duck, barred by term limits from seeking re-election, in a city that in any case felt increasingly worn out by eight years of his combative style. And while his supporters talked of a presidential bid, the prospect seemed a long shot for a Republican who supported abortion rights and restrictions on gun sales.

A week after the 9/11 attacks, due to his almost universally acclaimed leadership in the aftermath of that tragedy, his approval rating hovered at nearly 80%. Since then he has been on almost every short list of Republican contenders. In his talks, Giuliani uses Sept. 11 to make two points. The first is that he has proven himself to be a leader, and having a proven leader in these troubled times, he tells audiences, is more important than whether you agree with everything he stands for. The other is that his handling of the aftermath of the terrorist attacks proved his competency.[13]

The International Association of Fire Fighters, America's largest union of firefighters, posted a grievance against Giuliani's November 2001 decision to reduce the number of firefighters searching the rubble of Ground Zero for the remains of some 300 fallen comrades.[14]

He tried and failed to change the city's law prohibiting a third consecutive term. He began Giuliani Partners, which immediately became a consultant to businesses worldwide on dealing with terrorism. He gave many highly-paid speeches on how leadership can deal with terrible crises, like he did, and in 2002 published Leadership, recounting how he handled 9-11.

Giuliani strongly recommended in 2004 that his business partner and former city police chief Bernard B. Kerik be named Secretary of Homeland Security. President George W. Bush was about to do so when it was learned that Kerik was involved in multiple scandals. In November, 2007, Kerik was indicted by a federal grand jury on corruption charges relating to his former position under Giuliani, as well as personal tax evasion charges. The indictment seriously weakened the Giuliani presidential bid.[15]

2008 Presidential Campaign

Giuliani ran for the Republican nomination for president of the United States in 2008. He repeatedly talked about his mayoral achievements, losing the attention of many supporters.[16] After the John McCain campaign apparently collapsed in mid 2007, Giuliani took the lead in national polls until December 2007, when he began to fall behind other candidates.[17]

Downplaying his liberal views on abortion, gun control, homosexual and immigration, Giuliani emphasized his heroic leadership of New York City after 9-11, as well as his cutting crime in the city and his hard-line stance against terrorism. Although he campaigned vigorously, he was so focused on his own record in New York that he did not make contact with what the voters were interested in. Worse, he could not shake off charges of corruption. He lost most of his support in the last two months of 2007. He won only 3.5% of voters in Iowa; 8.5% in New Hampshire; 2.8% in Michigan; 4.3% in Nevada and 2.1% in South Carolina. Pulling out of other states, he concentrated all his efforts in a losing battle for Florida, where he ran third with a mere 15%. Analysts noted the more voters saw of Giuliani, the fewer supported him.[18]

He left the race after Florida and endorsed McCain. When McCain was nominated Giuliani criss-crossed the country speaking on his behalf.

Political Views

Rudy Giuliani is known for having liberal positions on social issues such as abortion, gun control and gay rights, while conservative positions on national defense and fiscal policy.

Giuliani supports "responsible" restrictions on abortion such as parental notification with a judicial bypass and a ban on partial birth abortion – except when the life of the mother is at stake. However, In 1997 Giuliani said that then - President Bill Clinton made the right decision when he vetoed a ban on partial birth abortion. During his 2000 Senate campaign he said that he would "vote to preserve the option for women." Giuliani has also given six contributions to Planned Parenthood in the 1990s. The payments, totaling $900, were made in 1993, 1994, 1998 and 1999. Planned Parenthood is one of the top abortion advocates and abortion providers in the United States.

Giuliani has changed his views on guns over time. As mayor of New York City, he was a proponent of urban gun control, but, while running for President, has stated that he thinks differently about more mid-west environments. As Mayor of New York, Giuliani became a nationally visible figure in favor of gun control measures, beginning with an appearance on Meet the Press in late 1993. He was in favor of the 1993 Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act and the 1994 Federal Assault Weapons Ban. In 1995, Giuliani called member's of the National Rifle Association "extremists." And that anti-gun control positions of many Republicans are "terrible for America."

Although Rudy Giuliani does not support same-sex marriage, he does support "domestic partnerships" that provide stability for Americans who are in non-traditional relationships.

Giuliani is known as a staunch conservative on national security. He has supported PresidentGeorge W. Bush's tactic of using domestic surveillance and strongly supports completing the mission in Iraq and hunting for terrorists and insurgents. Giuliani was described by Newsweek magazine in January 2007 as "one of the most consistent cheerleaders for the president’s handling of the war in Iraq."

On economic policy, conservative economist George Will said of Rudy Giuliani's two terms as mayor, "the most successful episode of conservative governance of the last 50 years.[19] He has received praise from fiscal conservatives for his advocacy of lower taxes and less government bureaucracy.